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Æ37 - Valerian and Gallienus ΤΡΑΛΛΙΑΝΩΝ ΠΡΩΤΩΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΟϹ, ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑ, ΠΥΘΙΑ
| Issuer | Tralles (Conventus of Ephesus) |
|---|---|
| Year | 253-260 |
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| Reference(s) | X#85247 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | ΙΕΡΑ ϹΥΝΚΛΗΤΟϹ (Translation: Sacred Senate) |
| Reverse description | A prize table depicted in three-quarter perspective, upon which rest an inscribed laurel wreath and an inscribed agonistic stephane crown adorned with palm branches, referencing the Olympian and Pythian games. Beneath the table stands an amphora, a conventional symbol of athletic contest prizes in provincial Greek coinage. The reverse legend distributed around the field proclaims the civic titles and festival epithets of the city of Tralles. |
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| Additional information |
Tralles was an aggressively status-conscious city, and the reverse legend advertising its claim as "first of the Greeks" — along with the festival titles Olympia and Pythia — reflects a fierce inter-city rivalry endemic to the province of Asia. These honorific titles were not self-granted; they required imperial sanction, and Tralles lobbied hard for them against competitors including Ephesus and Smyrna. Issuing coinage under the joint reign of Valerian and Gallienus allowed the city to reassert these privileges at the moment a new dynasty needed provincial goodwill.
The Conventus of Ephesus administered civic coin issues across this period, but Tralles operated with unusual autonomy in its iconographic choices.